Health and Medicine

“Get the shot”, is the message now the flu season is here. But how effective is the vaccine? What is the chance of a mismatch? Are there serious complications? Should you get your shot at the local pharmacy? Or treat yourself with over-the-counter products? Should you rely on natural remedies? The right answers could save your life.

How Effective is the Vaccine?

Australia’s flu season, during its winter and our summer, usually predicts what happens in North America. And during Australia’s past winter, there were 215,280 cases.

For years bioethicists of a utilitarian cast have argued that conscientious objection has no place in medicine. Now Canadian courts are beginning to put their stamp of approval on the extinction of doctors’ right to refuse to kill their patients.

The Superior Court of Justice Division Court of Ontario ruled this week that if doctors are unwilling to perform legal actions, they should find another job (see report in BioEdge).

Ask anyone what causes a sudden coronary attack and they will say it’s the result of high blood cholesterol, lack of exercise, obesity or smoking. Now, a report in the publication “LifeExtension” says doctors must start thinking “endothelium”. I’d bet few readers could even spell this word. So why is it so vital? And what natural remedies make it healthy?

The endothelium is the ultra-thin, one cell thick, innermost lining of arteries. It produces nitric oxide. And it’s ironic that just this single layer of cells, if unhealthy, results in decreased blood circulation, hardening of arteries, and is a major cause of the big killers, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

Constantly tracking a person’s glucose levels through their tears or sweat could be one step closer to providing people with diabetes an improved monitoring tool. Researchers report in the journal ACS Nano the development of an ultra-thin, flexible sensor that could be incorporated into contact lenses or on the backs of watches for real-time glucose tracking.

By American Chemical Society - Thursday, January 25, 2018 - Full Story

Artificial sweeteners are used in diet drinks and foods but also could someday be used as treatments targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX), a protein associated with aggressive cancers. Although several drugs have been approved that target similar forms of CA, they aren’t selective and may cause side effects, including vomiting and fatigue. Now researchers report in ACS’ Journal of Medicinal Chemistry that an artificial sweetener could lead to development of a more selective therapy.

By American Chemical Society - Thursday, January 25, 2018 - Full Story

On a recent Wednesday morning, volunteer emergency medical technician Sanaa Mahameed was the first responder on the scene as fire and rescue personnel extricated two injured people from their vehicles following a car crash.

Unfortunately, motor vehicle accidents aren’t a rare occurrence. What was unusual about this scene is that the woman tending the wounded was a religious Muslim who modestly covers her hair and neck with a hijab.

Is a cure for hemophilia on the horizon? American biotechnology company BioMarin aims to find out with the help of Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel.

BioMarin has chosen Sheba to take part in the next phase of international trials for what’s being touted as a “magic bullet” cure for hemophilia A, a genetic blood-clotting deficiency that results in patients bleeding longer after an injury and more easily bruising. Hemophilia A, which affects mostly men, can be life-threatening.

A new study published in scientific journal Nature Communications distinguishes the reason for extended pancreatic cancer survival: an inverse correlation between a known oncogene, a gene that promotes the development of cancer, and the expression of an oncosuppressor microRNA.

Though 75 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within 12 months of diagnosis, about 7% survive more than five years. “We thought that if we could understand how some people live several years with this most aggressive disease, we might be able to develop a new therapeutic strategy,” said lead researcher Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, chair of physiology and pharmacology at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

Amid mounting calls across the world to ban the controversial use of transvaginal mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP), Israeli company POP Medical Solutions is introducing NeuGuide, an FDA-cleared minimally invasive repair system uniquely requiring neither dissection nor mesh.

POP is a common but painful and debilitating condition in which pelvic organs (uterus, vagina, bladder or rectum) sag or drop. Up to half of all women experience POP in their lifetime – especially as they age – making this a $1 billion market. The incidence of POP is expected to rise with increasing life expectancy and obesity.

WASHINGTON — Some fads never die. Low-carb diets were a thing in the late 90s and they’re still a thing now. But why does this fad have staying power? Is it because the touted benefits are real? Or is that greasy, low-carb burger fried in snake oil? Learn about the surprising medical benefits of ketogenic diets in this video from Reactions:

Traumatic brain injuries, whether suffered from a blow on the football field or the battle field, can be devastating, leading to disability and shortened lives. However, little is known about how different levels of injury and time affect the brain, hindering efforts to develop effective treatments. Scientists now report results from rodent studies in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research showing that signaling molecules are likely involved in mild cases, also known as concussions.

Women have many options for oral contraceptives that are safe, effective and reversible, but despite decades of research, men have none. Now, scientists report a rat study in ACS’ Journal of Medicinal Chemistry that shows they finally have a good lead for a male birth control pill. It’s based on ouabain, a plant extract that African warriors and hunters traditionally used as a heart-stopping poison on their arrows.

Despite herculean efforts, cancer remains a formidable disease, with each malignant subtype responding differently to therapeutics. One hurdle specific to treating solid tumors is a protective layer called an extracellular matrix that can prevent chemotherapeutic agents from penetrating the tumor’s core. Scientists now report results in ACS’ Chemistry of Materials showing that, by cloaking anti-cancer drugs in a specially designed particle, they could target and destroy tumor cells deep inside a malignant mass in vitro.

By American Chemical Society - Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - Full Story

WASHINGTON — Bakers on TV are always talking about whether their goodies have enough gluten. But the masses on Twitter act like gluten is some kind of monster hiding in your bread. So what gives? Is gluten good, or is it bad? This video from Reactions explains what gluten is, how it leads to tasty bread, and the health risks it holds for certain groups of people:

By American Chemical Society - Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - Full Story

This year could be a defining one for CRISPR, the gene editing technique, which has been hailed as an important breakthrough in laboratory research. That’s because the first company-sponsored clinical studies will be conducted to see if it can help treat diseases in humans, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

Most people know that obesity is a health issue. But how many know that it’s responsible for 95 percent of Type 2 diabetes? Or that 50 percent of diabetes patients die of heart attack? How many readers know how obesity affects surgery? And what would make my father roll over in his grave?

For 60 years I’ve seen obesity in children and adults increasing in North America and most of the world. It’s tragic that few people fully understand how much this epidemic affects their lives and what it’s costing society.

I hope my columns during 2017 have helped readers live longer and healthier. So which of the following are true or false?

There’s evidence that regular activity lowers the risk of dementia. Also a suggestion that high daily doses of vitamin C can decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at The Harvard Medical School report the magical ingredient in fish to decrease the risk of heart disease is omega-3 fatty acids, which like Aspirin, add oil to the blood making it less likely to clot.

The survival rate of cancer of the prostate has little to do with the type of treatment. Rather, it’s related to the biological nature of the malignancy. Some cancers are pussy cats, others raging tigers.

Delivering drugs specifically to cancer cells is one approach researchers are taking to minimize treatment side effects. Stem cells, bacteria and other carriers have been tested as tiny delivery vehicles. Now a new potential drug carrier to treat gynecological conditions has joined the fleet: sperm. Scientists report in the journal ACS Nano that they have exploited the swimming power of sperm to ferry a cancer drug directly to a cervical tumor in lab tests.

Dementia affects millions of people worldwide, robbing them of their ability to think, remember and live as they once did. In the search for new ways to fight cognitive decline, scientists report in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that blueberry vinegar might offer some help. They found that the fermented product could restore cognitive function in mice.

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